Transport Act, 1944

Provisions in relation to the Chairman.

39.—(1) The Minister shall, before the establishment date and thereafter as circumstances require, appoint a person to be Chairman and the term of office of the first Chairman shall commence on the establishment date.

(2) The Chairman shall, unless he sooner dies, resigns or is removed from office, hold office for such term as the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, may fix at the time of his appointment.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Chairman shall hold office on such conditions as the Minister shall fix at the time of his appointment.

(4) Whenever the Minister appoints a person to be Chairman, he shall, as soon as may be, lay before each House of the Oireachtas a statement setting out that person's name, his term of office and the conditions upon which he is to hold office.

(5) The Chairman may at any time resign his office by giving notice to the Minister of his intention to resign his office on a date specified in the notice (being not less than three months after the notice is so given) and his resignation shall take effect as on and from the date so specified.

(6) Every person whose term of office as Chairman expires by effluxion of time shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(7) The Minister may at any time for stated reasons and shall, if the Chairman contravenes (by omission or act) any of the provisions of subsection (9) of this section by order remove the Chairman from office and any such order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(8) The Chairman shall while holding office be disqualified from being nominated or elected and from sitting as a member of Dáil Eireann or Seanad Eireann.

(9) (a) Every person appointed to be Chairman shall, within three months of his appointment, absolutely sell or otherwise dispose of all common stock which he shall at the time of his appointment own or be interested in for his own benefit;

(b) if and whenever any common stock shall come to or become vested in the Chairman by will or succession for his own benefit, he shall, within three months after it shall have so come to or become vested in him, absolutely sell or otherwise dispose of it or his interest therein;

(c) the Chairman shall not for his own benefit purchase, take or become interested in any common stock.

(10) If the Minister is at any time of opinion that the remuneration of the Chairman is for the time being insufficient he may direct that the remuneration of the Chairman shall be increased by such amount as the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, thinks fit, and the remuneration of the Chairman shall be increased accordingly, and such increase shall be payable by the Company.

(11) Whenever the Minister gives a direction under subsection (10) of this section, he shall, as soon as may be, lay before each House of the Oireachtas a copy of the direction.

(12) Whenever the Chairman is through ill-health or other sufficient cause temporarily incapacitated from performing the duties of his office, the Minister may nominate a person to perform during such incapacity the duties of the Chairman and the person so appointed shall during such incapacity have all the powers of the Chairman and be deemed for the purposes of section 37 of this Act to be the Chairman.

(13) There shall be paid by the Company to any person nominated under subsection (12) of this section such remuneration as the Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, may appoint, and such remuneration shall, in case such person is a stockholders' director of the Company, be in addition to his remuneration as a stockholders' director.